Ditching-machine



(No Model.)

A. BURCHAM.

DITGHING MACHINE.

No. 358,538.I Patented Mar. 1, 1887.

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DITCHING" MACHINE,

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 358.538, dated March l,1887.

Application filed September 26,1885. Serial No. 178,275. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREW BUROHAM. a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Mineral City, in the county of Greene and State ofIndiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inDitching-Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and te lettersor iigures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in ditchingmachines or wheel-excavators; and it consists in the construction andcombination of the parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, andspecifically pointed out in the claims, the object of inyinvention beingto provide a simple and effective excavator or ditching apparatus whichcan be readily attached to the front axle of an ordinary wagon, and inproviding said carriage or axle with an adjustable guide-wheel which canbe elevated or depressed, as will be hereinafter fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, `which illustrate my invention, Figure 1is a perspective view of a ditching-machine embodying my improvement.Fig. 2 is a plan view of said machine, and Fig. 3 is a horizontalsectional view of the ditching-wheel detached from its carrier.

In the accompanying drawings, A refers to au axle which is preferablyordinary in construction, sueh as is in useuponordinary farinwagons, andsaid axle has attached theretoa pole, C, and supporting-wheels B B,which are mounted on the spindles a a. The pole C is attached to theaxle by hounds c c, which are provided at their ends with hooks whichengage with eyes b, attached to said axle. Instead of hooks and eyes,ordinary clips may be employed. Above the axle A is mounted a bolster,A', to the upper edge of which is secured a platform, G, which. isprovided at one end with a serrated arched bar, G, adjacent to which ispivoted a lever, H, which has at- `bent horizontally and downwardly, thelower end having attached thereto a wheel, D', as shown, the ridge oredge of said wheel being horizontal.

To the bolster A are securely attached rearwardly-extending bars d d,which constitute a portion of a frame, between which is journaled aditching-wheel. The bars d d have adjacent to the ditch or excavatingwheel boxes or troughs, which are designed to be filled with stones, inorder to augment the weight of the ditching-wheel, as may be desired,and at the rear upper end of these boxes the axle of the ditching-wheelis journaled.

The ditching-wheel consists of two sections, E and E', which areprovided at their sides with annular metallic rings e e, which projectbeyond the peripheries of the sections E and E', and form annular platesfor the same.

The axle m of the ditching-wheel has double bearings formed in eyes inthe rear upper ends of the boxes, in, which the weights may be placed,and within said boxes and between the eyes the axles are encircled bythe ends of a bent bar, f, the upper portion of said bar extendingacross the ditching-wheel, where it has pivotally attached thereto ablade, F, the under portion having a bearing, f, which encircles thehorizontal portion of the bar f. One edge of the blade F, immediatelyabove the bearing f", has an upwardly-projecting eye, f3, with whichengages the outwardlybent end of a bar, g, said bar having a member, g',which is attached to the lever H, near its upper end, and by moving saidlever the blade F may be caused to contact with the bottom of the recessin the ditching-wheel.

To the frame which supports the ditchingyIO wheel and tothe bolster issecured a suitablyconstructed supplemental frame having vertical barsd', between the upper ends of which are journaled rollers over whichpass' an endless belt, I, said belt being located beneath the lower endof the blade F and at right angles therewith.

One of the rollers over which the endless belt I passes has arearwardly-extending shaft, n, with a pulley, n, which contactswithaflat ring, N, attached to one side of the ditchingwheel.

L refers to a curved blade, which is sharpened at its lower portion, soas to provide a cutting-edge, said blade being held in positionconcentric. with the periphery of the ditching-wheel by means ofconverging bracebars ZZ, the outer ends of which are rigidly secured tothe sides or back of the blade L, while the front ends are suitablypivoted upon the axle m. These bars Z Z arefprovided with a lever, saidlever being connected to the aforesaid bars by a segmental plate, o, asshown in Fig. l. The end of the lever engages with a rack-bar, p,attached to the supporting-frame. By depressing the lever the curvedblade can be elevated so that its lower end will be thrown out of anoperative position.

The operation of my invention is as follows: W'hen the apparatus isfirst drawn across thc ground where it is desired to form a ditch, thebar D is elevated and turned so that the end of said bar will rest uponthe surface of the platform G, and thus hold the wheel D/ elevated outof contact with the ground. The blade L is then depressed so as toextend a slight distance beneath the periphery of the side flanges ofthe ditching-wheel. Now, when the machine is drawn across the field, theside flanges E E will enter the ground, and the earth between the samewill be elevated and held between the flanges of the ditching-wheeluntil it contacts with the scraper F, when said earth will be removedfrom between said flanges and deposited upon the endless carrying-belt,from whence it is dumped at one side of the ditch.

After the machine has been moved over the ground once it is oftendesirable that the ditch be'made deeper, or what in practice is termedreopened,77 and in such a case the bar D is turned so that its upper endwill enter one of the perforations h and permit the wheel D to occupy aposition below the frame ofthe ditching-machine, so that it will enterthe ditch and serve as a guide for the ditching-wheel.

If it should be desired that the ditch be made wider,the upper end ofthe bar D can be placed in one of the perforations, so as to cause theWheel D to contact with one of the sides of the previously-cut ditch. v

I claim- 1. The combination, in a ditching-machine, of an axle providedwith supporting-wheels, a bolster mounted above said axle and providedwith a rearwardly-extending frame, an excavating wheel provided withoutwardlyextending flanges e e, journaled between said frame, anadjustable blade,L, pivoted to the axle and provided with a lever,whiehengages with a rack-bar attached to said frame, a blade, F, and endlesscarrying-belt, the parts being organized substantially as shown,and forthe purpose set forth.

2. The combination, with a dit-ching-wheel, of the boxes or troughsarranged at each side of the same for the reception of stones orweights, substantially as setforth.

3. The combination, in a ditching-machine, ofa ditching-wheel havingannular side plates projecting at each side beyond the periphery of saidwheel to form cutters, a scraper, L, pivotally attached to the axleofthe ditching-wheel, said plate bei ng adjustable with respect thereto,an adjustable scraper pivoted upon a bar secured to the axle of theditching-wheel, and a lever for adjusting said scraper and maintainingthesame in position,substantially as shown, and for the purpose setforth.

4. The combination, in a ditching-machine, of a wheel having side platesforming cutters, the blade extending partially around the rear portionof said wheel, a scraper device extending between the cutters,and anendless carrier having a'shaft with pulley which bears against one sideof the ditching-wheel, substantially as shown, and for the purpose setforth.

5. The combination, in a ditching-machine, constructed substantially asshown, of a plate or platform, G, having perforations h, and a bent bar,D, carrying at its lower end awheel, D', the rim thereof being at rightangles with the edge of the ditching-wheel, substantially as shown, andfor the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ANDRE W DURCH AM.

Vitnesses:

W. B. HUFFMAN, RowLAND HAxwoon.

IOO

